Crash
by princesspomegranate
Summary: Recently orphaned, eighteen year old Becky is on a trip with her aunt and uncle. They take the wrong turn and Becky's left alone again. Only no one's ever alone in the Hills. AU- the Carters haven't appeared and they shan't in this story. LizardxOC.
1. Crash

I don't think I've ever hated the sun so much in my life. Correction; I _know_ I've never hated the sun as much as I do right now. Its white-light glare hurt my eyes and worked to burn my pale skin. Oh God, how I hated the sun. As I stumbled forward, my shoes unwittingly kicking small stones across the sun-dried desert earth, I wondered if God even existed in a place like this.

After what I'd just witnessed, I was leaning towards no. My mind flickered back to the events of earlier that day. And the horrible things that I had seen. I had been in the back seat of my aunt and uncle's car. It was new, but since I never gave a shit about cars and trucks, I never actually learnt what type it was. The extent of my knowledge led me to just call it "the white one with the eleven plate"... Yeah...

But the car's not important now. Not anymore. The important thing was that, for some reason, my uncle had decided to take us on a seriously long road trip through the New Mexico Desert. Fun? Uncle Jim would say so. My idea of fun, however, involved a little less carsickness and sing along family car tunes. Thankfully though, I had my iPod blasting out heavy rock and metal to block out the latter.

The former, I could not deal with so easily. That was why, as soon as we pulled over at the lonely gas station in the middle of nowhere, I took off running for the outhouse that my aunt spotted round the back of it. I threw up before I even noticed how disgusting the place was. I didn't stay in there long. Especially not after I saw the dangling flypaper that was covered in hundreds of the tiny black insects.

I don't think the place had ever been cleaned. I had to half fight off the urge to go and disinfect myself for even spending so little a time as I had in there. The flypaper and stench had been enough for me. I was out of there like a shot, almost feeling like I was about to vomit again. But I didn't.

I shook my head and left the filthy outhouse behind me as I walked back to where my uncle had pulled over. When I rounded the corner, I saw him talking to the gas station attendant. I rolled my eyes as I noticed that they were both smoking. _Stupid men_, I had thought. _They'll kill themselves like that_. Little did I know then, but smoking would be the least of my uncle's problems soon enough.

I smiled at my uncle vaguely as he waved to me. The two men were too far away for me to hear what they were saying, but it was obvious from how they were looking at me that they were talking about me. I made a point of looking away from them then, a slight frown on my face.

I hated the way that Uncle Jim always talked about me with random strangers. It was just plain fucking weird, in my opinion. I mean, _really_, who gave a fuck about an only-just eighteen year old girl who looked dressed like a Goth and apparently had a glare that said "fuck the world".

That was what my aunt always said anyway. Personally, I thought I looked just fine. My clothes suited me and I didn't give a fuck what I anyone else thought about them or me. So I guess Aunt Vanessa was right about the "fuck the world" part, at least.

I made my way back to the car and past the two men who were busy topping up the car with petrol. I didn't fail to notice that my uncle's tone seemed to hush as I neared. _What a save, Uncle Jim_, I though sarcastically as I plonked myself in my place on the backseat.

"Better?" my aunt asked, turning around to face me and lifting her dark sunglasses.

"Urgh," I replied.

"Only if this journey's over soon."

"Sorry hun," she answered in a soft sigh, her American accent thick.

"Jim and I didn't think about you getting sick when we planned this trip."

I shrugged and turned to look out of the window, instead of at my aunt's deep bright green eyes. The eyes that she shared with both me and my father. I knew exactly what she meant about not expecting me to get sick on this trip; and that was because when she and my uncle planned this trip, I wasn't supposed to be on it.

But no one could have expected the car crash that killed my parents two months ago. The car crash that meant that even after I'd lost my parents- the two most important people in my life- I was uprooted from all I knew. My country, my friends, my _home_; all had to be left behind as I was brought over to live with my aunt and uncle in America.

I still felt bitter about it. I missed England and everything that I used to have there so much that it hurt. But the thing I hated the most now, was that the crash had not only taken my past; it had taken my future. If that stupid fucking trucker hadn't fallen asleep at the wheel and collided with my parents, they'd still be alive. And two months down the line, I wouldn't be walking, or more like _stumbling_, through the desert right now.

I seemed to have been blaming everything on the crash since it had happened. Thinking about it as I usually always was, I knew that I should probably stop blaming everything on the crash. But now, since I was stranded in the middle of the desert, terrified for my life; I felt that assuaging the blame a little couldn't hurt. Particularly since it was the only thing stopping me from blaming myself about what happened.

Because _this_- what had happened, and even the situation I now found myself in- _was_ my fault. It was. Just as we had been about to leave, the attendant had knocked on my uncle's window. And when my uncle rolled down the window, the man gave us a wide smile, revealing a less than full set of teeth.

"Y'know," he began, his accent even more thick and noticeable than those of my aunt and uncle.

"If she gets as sick as you said-"

I scowled at the back of my uncle's head for a moment. _Why the fuck is Jim telling this guy about me?_ I thought almost angrily. But that thought soon dispersed when the old attendant continued.

"-there's a shortcut through the hills a couple o' miles up the road; should shave a couple o' hours off your journey."

Uncle Jim opened his mouth to answer the man, but I interrupted him before he could. I already knew what Jim's reply would be.

"Please Jim," I pleaded, knowing that if I couldn't persuade him, Jim would likely decline any further directions.

My uncle looked around at me lopsidedly, as if he was planning, despite my plea, to take the long route anyway.

"Seriously Jim, I don't know how much more of this I can take."

He still didn't look convinced. _Fuck. What have I got to do to convince him to take the damn shortcut?_ But then the thought had hit me.

"Jim, I swear, if you don't take the shortcut, I _will_ make sure that I throw up _all over_ this damn car."

Jim just stared at me with his mouth open. That had certainly caught his attention. My aunt raised an eyebrow and looked at me disapprovingly, but she didn't say anything. It was the attendant's reaction though, that caught everyone's attention. He let out a laugh that was almost cackle-like, making everyone turn back to look at him.

"Jus' in case you _do_ wanna take the shortcut, it's a left at the dirt road jus' after an ol' fence at the side o' the road."

"Looks like I _will_ be taking it if I want my car to stay in this condition," Jim answered ruefully after a while.

The gas station attendant gave another chuckle. And I couldn't help but notice that there was very little actual humour in it.

"Thanks for the directions," Jim finished with a nod, as he started the car's engine.

As we started to drive away, I heard the man shout after us, "Remember, take the dirt road after the ol' fence."

I waited until the man was out of sight before I started, "Well."

And after a significant pause, I finished, "He was sufficiently weird, don't you think?"

Aunt Vanessa rolled her eyes as she turned back around to me and answered, "Honestly Becky, I don't see why you can't just accept a person for who they are. Yes, he may have been a little... _strange_; but he was nice. He gave us directions for a quicker route to California, didn't he?"

"Well yeah... but Vanessa, what was with that laugh? It was just _creepy_."

"I'll give you that," my aunt replied with a small smile.

If only we'd considered that nagging little thought a little more. Then we might not have ended up turning down that dirt road, or trusting that stupid son of a bitch. But we did. And we travelled down that road for about ten minutes, my aunt and uncle singing another cheesy car song while I tried to zone them out with a bit of Evanescence. It was as normal as things could seem to be since the crash.

But after those ten minutes, that's when everything changed. That was when I stopped really knowing what was going on. Because in one moment, everything was normal, and the next, something happened with at least one of the car's tyres and Jim lost control. I remember feeling the seatbelt tug me down as the car impacted with a rock. After that I blacked out.

I woke up with something hot and sticky trickling down my forehead. My hand went up to touch it and I opened my eyes to see the red liquid covering my fingertips. Blood. _What happened?_ I had thought. I turned my head and saw that I must have hit the broken window beside me.

With a groan, I unplugged myself from the belt that had pretty much protected me from injury. Because, aside from my head and a few aching bones, I was fine. My dark jeans had a long rip in one of the legs and my black shirt was ripped in a couple of places. But I was fine.

As it turned out though, I was the only one that was. My deep red hair had been pulled free of the ties I'd held it up in and I had to push it back with shaky hands as I peered over to the front seats of the car to see my aunt, unconscious in her seat.

At least, I'd thought she was unconscious. Until, that was, I saw how pale she was. And until I saw the long shard of glass protruding from her chest. I stared at her for a while, not knowing what to do, not even being able to cry.

A crash had taken my aunt from me, just as one had taken my parents. This was wrong. How could one thing like a crash follow me so much as it did? How could it work to destroy everything I loved one by one? How could my aunt be dead? Especially so soon after my parents were gone.

A few tears escaped my eyes, running down my cheeks and taking trails of black eyeliner with them. Eventually, I turned to look at Jim, expecting the worst since I'd heard no movement. But he wasn't there. I blinked as I stared through the crack in the slightly ajar open car door. He was gone.

Reluctantly, I left my aunt in the car and opened the door to my left. I almost fell out of the battered vehicle onto the dusty, hot earth outside. My legs were unsteady, and I felt like I was about to throw up again. And I really could have done as I stared at the scene before me.

Jim was dead. Though I don't think he'd been killed when we crashed as my aunt had. There were blood-red handprints streaked down the side of the white car and patches of the floor were soaked in the stuff. The bloody shoe about three feet in front of me wasn't what had held me frozen to the spot. It was the leg without a body that still remained attached to the shoe that had done that.

But even that hadn't made me throw up again, though I was surely feeling the sickest I had ever been. Because my eyes trailed the line of blood leading off from that separated limb until they rested on the rest of Jim's mutilated body and, moreover, the man holding it.

How had I not noticed him before? As I'd stared at him, taking in the warped features of the strange and blood-spattered man before me, he just stared back for a moment with cold blue eyes that pierced through me. And then he laughed. Something that sounded as cruel as he had meant it to be.

And then I started running. I don't know where I thought that I was going. Just anywhere. Anywhere away from whatever that man was, and whatever he'd done to my uncle. I couldn't stop running. There was nothing I could do for either my aunt or my uncle, but something in me almost wanted to turn back and stop that... that _thing_ from doing anything further to their bodies.

The memory of those cold blue eyes, that sun-leathered skin, and that deformed cleft lip curled into an evil smile kept my feet running as fast as they ever had though. And I was sure that I wasn't going to stop or turn back for anyone.

I didn't stop; at least on purpose anyway. I tripped over a rock or a dead shrub or something and it sent me tumbling to the hard ground. I'd hit my head again, but it didn't stop me from blurrily scrambling to my feet again and running even further. I had no idea what the fuck was going on. If anyone was following me. I still didn't know that answer.

And I'm still running away. But I suppose I should say walking. I hadn't the energy to run anymore. I needed water; shade; rest; my family. My family's what I needed the most. And they were the only thing that I would never be able to get back. They were all dead. I was alone. And... And I might as well be dead too.

In fact, I pretty much knew that I was going to die from the moment I saw Jim's dead body. It was just _how_ I died that I'd decided. That thing that I'd run from... At least I knew that he couldn't do anything to me now. There was no way that he could catch up with me now... Or so I hoped.

I sank to the ground with that small victory in mind, my palms and knees burning at the contact with the hot ground. _At least I'll get to see my family again_, I thought, as I tried to convince myself that giving up now was the only thing left to do. _There's nothing left here now. All there is here is death_.

I'd almost convinced myself of it when I saw the shadow pass in front of me. I looked up instantly, and, in the same moment, wished that I hadn't. It was him. _It_. The man that had, I believed, killed Jim. He was staring down at me, his deformed lips curled into that disfigured, cruel grin once again.

I barely even noticed the long strip of spikes hanging over his shoulder; but I did notice it. And I noticed the gun in his hand. So I guessed that I'd failed. Even in taking my death into my own hands. _Fuck_, I thought grimly. How had I let him catch me?

"What do you want?" I asked, my voice croaky and weaker than it usually was.

"Can't you just let me die in peace?"

He tilted his head to the side and continued to stare at me with that cold glare of his.

"In fact, why don't you just kill me and get it over with? I've got fuck all to live for," I finished, staring him down.

I saw him bring the butt of the gun down against my head and felt the thud. I hit the hot ground at his feet and my eyes closed.

But I was still barely conscious as I heard him say in a loud voice, "Not today."

And with that, I felt myself lifted over the shoulder of this murdering disfigured man, being taken off to God only knows where. I could only hope, when we arrived to wherever this fucker was taking me, that I'd be unconscious as he killed me. Or did whatever the fuck else he had planned for me.

As he carried me away from where he'd found me, I could only pray for a welcome death to come and find me.

If only I were so lucky.


	2. Running Into Trouble

As I opened my eyes, all I could feel was a throbbing from passing over my skull. I stared up at the dirty wooden ceiling above my head and it took me a couple of minutes to recall what had happened. But when I did, it hit me as hard as the crash that had killed my parents. And the one that had killed my aunt. And the butt of the gun as it had struck my head.

That was when I realised what situation I was really in. And when I realised that my hands were tied above my head. I looked up and saw that a thin piece of rope bound my wrists to a rusty bedpost. At the sight of it, I couldn't stop the whisper that then escaped my lips.

"What the fuck...?"

I stared around the room and saw that there was very little in it. The bed I was lying on was really the only distinguishable feature. There was a window, though I could see nothing out of it, except for the bright blue, endless sky. The only thing left to look at was the door, and all that that appeared to be was normal, simple wooden door.

So I turned my attention to fighting to try and wrench myself out of the ties my arms were held in, before realising that pulling a hand free of my bonds like that would be virtually impossible. I didn't give up though, not until I heard that door swing open and slam against the wall. I looked up, away from my hands to see _him _in the open doorway.

His deformed lips were twisted into that cruel smile as he stared at me, and I had to fight back screaming all of the thousands of curses that sprung to mind at the sight of him. He casually walked over to my side, that strip of evil-looking metal spikes still hanging over his shoulder. And I stilled as he glared down at me with those cold blue eyes, not knowing what the fuck that this freak wanted with me.

"So you ain't got nuthin' to live for, eh?" he said, sneeringly after a while.

My eyes flashed up to meet his and my mouth hung open slightly. _What the fuck is he talking about?_ I thought. But then I remembered what I'd said; what I'd felt. And it all those feelings flooded back. I had wanted to die... I still did...

"Who the fuck are you? What the fuck is _this_?" I yelled at him.

"Shut up already. I ain't gotta tell ya nuthin', ya stupid bitch."

"Charming," I bit back sarcastically.

That seemed to surprise him, because he just stared at me for a moment as if that was the last thing he'd expected me to say. _Good_, I thought, because I was sure what I was going to say next would not be the first time his ears had heard the words.

"Will you hurry up and kill me already?"

The surprise in his expression vanished then and he simply laughed at me. A laugh so loud and cruel that it made me cringe back into the bed I was lying in. _Just what type of man am I dealing with here?_ I wondered as I fought back the urge to cringe back from his laugh.

"I ain't gunna kill ya... jus' yet," he added raising his eyebrows in a menacing yet highly amused tone.

I gaped at the man. _What the fuck is going on? Who is this man? Why does he look like a monster? _Is _he some sort of monster? What did he do to my uncle? And my aunt? What does he want with me? _All of these questions ran through my head, and I had a feeling that if I asked any of them, I would receive no answer. But I tried anyway.

"What the Hell did you do to my uncle? My aunt?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from wavering as I spoke of the family I knew was now dead.

As I suspected, I got no answer. Instead, a hand, gloved and calloused, dirty and coarse-skinned, lifted beside me. I eyed it carefully, watching every movement as the hand slowly found its way to the side of my face. I flinched as his skin came into contact with mine, but I couldn't get away from his touch.

It wasn't as if he was being gentle either as he slid his rough fingers over my cheek and down my neck. I shivered and tried to turn my head from him again, but he pulled my face back to look at him. He was far too close, and had _far_ too much control over me for my liking and it only took me a moment to recover myself.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? Get the _fuck_ off of me!"

His hand didn't move and my outburst clearly hadn't startled him. Merely... _amused_ him? I had no idea what the fuck I'd thought was going to happen with my hands tied to that stupid bed, but the way his hand was stroking over my skin was enough to make me truly terrified.

My eyes widened as his fingers paused, tapping at my collar bone. But before he could do anything further, there was a loud noise from downstairs. He looked at the door and then back to me before growling slightly and withdrawing his hand. I let out an audible, shaky breath as he left the room to investigate the noise.

_That's it_, I thought finally. Not knowing how long I had, I set to work immediately on untying myself. I couldn't do it earlier by pulling myself free, but since my legs weren't tied, I still had a chance. Pushing myself closer to my hands, I started to chew at the rope. I would get out of this place. I had to. Even if it was just to get something to kill myself with.

But I wouldn't let this freak rape me. He'd taken my aunt and uncle- the last living relatives that I had to love- from me, I wouldn't let him take my dignity too. I would find a way to kill myself before I ever let that happen.

Chewing was getting me through faster than I thought it would. The rope was old and it was breaking under my teeth easier than it should have done. But who was I to make an issue of it if it meant that I could get out there? After a couple of minutes working so avidly at the rope, I managed to loosen it enough to slip a hand free. And after that it was easy enough to pull my other hand out too.

I breathed a sigh of short-lived relief as I set my mind to the task of escaping the old house that I was held in. Carefully, I swung my legs from the rusty bed and placed my black-booted feet on the dusty wooden floor. Thankfully, I thought, the floorboards did not creak as I'd expected them to and I was able to creep towards the door that had been left open slightly.

I peered out into the corridor beyond and saw no one, just another set of dirty and old walls. I heard nothing as I stepped out into the corridor, not knowing where I was or really where I was going. It took only a moment for me to find the rickety-looking staircase that I assumed was my only route to freedom.

My eyes flickered over everything around me as I pushed the fear that was coursing through my very veins. I couldn't risk getting caught by the sick man that had effectively kidnapped me. I just had to find a way out... Or something that I could use to end it all.

I was almost a little unsure as I took a few more steps downward. Where had that man gone? There was no doubt in my mind that he'd be coming back, but _when_ was my issue. I had to be quick. And that was my mistake. Because as I rushed myself down the stairs, I didn't realise that when I moved off the last step I'd have walked right into an open doorway.

My head turned just in time for me to see a towering figure running towards me, arms outstretched. It wasn't the man who'd left me upstairs. In fact, I wasn't even sure if this person was a man. He was even more a monster than the one who'd brought me here.

Deformity clearly ran in the family in this place. The man's head was huge and misshapen. He was bald or at least in the quick moment that I had looked at him, I'd thought he was; there may have been patches of hair there. And otherwise, the most noticeable thing about him was his immense height and build. Now I wasn't short for my age, standing at five foot eight inches tall, but this man towered over me nevertheless.

But, of course, I wasn't thinking about any of this. I had only a moment to turn and try to run as his body hit mine. A piercing scream ripped from my lips when his large, strong arms encircled my body. It was all I could do as I struggled against his grasp. I was almost surprised through my terror that, with my legs kicking in all directions and my hands scratching at his skin, he still managed to keep his hold on me.

It was only when my foot made contact with his crotch that I managed to wriggle out of his hold. Even then, I wasn't completely aware of what was going on. All I knew was that this _thing_ was blocking the only exit that I could see and I had to get away. So I ran for the stairs I'd just descended in hopes of finding a place to hide.

But I felt his nails scrape across my back as he reached out to grab me. And I felt my shirt rip further as he snatched at the material. I was pulled backward once more, but I managed to squirm out of my ruined shirt before he could surround me in his mammoth embrace once again.

My heart was in my throat and I heard him almost roar as I escaped him for a second time. I hadn't escaped him for long though. He caught me easily and threw me against the stair rail with such force that I couldn't imagine possible. My head whacked against the wooden rail as I crumbled to the floor.

Dizzy, I couldn't even start to crawl away before the giant grabbed hold of my left foot and dragged me away from the stairs. My back, bare apart from the thin straps of my black bra, scraped across the dirty wood. I struggled, but all it seemed that I could do was scratch my fingers across the wood in an attempt to stop him. All it really did, was make my fingers bleed.

I let out another loud scream of pain and the giant stopped tugging me across the floor and let go of my foot. He let me think that I could scramble back from him, only to come up beside me and kick me in the stomach. I could hear him laughing as I lay there, curled into myself in pain.

I felt his boot collide my side next and I couldn't help but think, _wasn't this what I wanted? To die? It won't be long if he keeps this up._ It was when his hands caught hold of my neck and lifted me, so that my toes couldn't even brush the floor anymore, that I truly realised how easily this man could kill me.

I wished he had. I wished that he'd just snap my neck as easily as I knew it would be for him to do. As my oxygen level started to run low, I couldn't help but stare at the giant and the childish, gap-toothed grin he was giving me. Even when my vision started to fade, I kept staring at him.

But the next thing I knew, I had hit the floor, one of my knees jarring awkwardly against the hard, almost dusty surface. I gasped and managed to choke out a few breaths. But I couldn't see what was going on, or why I was no longer being choked, because my hair had fallen like a curtain in front of my face.

I heard things though. Punches, angry snarls and growls... And eventually, I had to turn my head to face the noises that had once more denied me the death that I so longed for.

"Pluto, y'idiot! What you try'na do? Kill 'er?" I heard the man who'd brought me to this place say.

The giant, who I assumed was called Pluto, recoiled from the smaller man. I again wished that Pluto had killed me; that the other man hadn't returned in time to stop him. Now I had been caught again, and I had a feeling that I wasn't to be left in a way that I could escape from as easily this time. My one chance was wasted. I'd failed.

"An' you!" he shouted, directing his anger to me.

I couldn't stop myself from letting out a sharp gasp when his hand wrapped around my upper arm and he yanked me to my feet. Blearily, I looked up at him and gave him a stare that was as dead as I wanted to be.

"Y'think ya can git out that easy, bitch?"

I pulled against his hand, hoping to provoke him further. It worked. Just not in the way that I wanted it to. He didn't kill me, like I'd wanted him to. Instead, his other hand came up swiftly slapped the side of my face. I would have fallen if it weren't for his grip on my arm- a grip that had tightened considerably.

Everything seemed to go fuzzy after he'd hit me though; and I could really do nothing to resist as I was thrown over the smaller man's shoulder again. While he may have been smaller than Pluto, and far leaner, the man who had hold of me was no doubt equal in strength. As I was learning quickly.

I didn't even realise that we'd moved from that downstairs room until my body bounced as I hit that rusty old bed again. I struggled to make sense of my surroundings as much as I struggled against the strong hands that pinned mine down. Tears clouded my vision more and I began to feel truly hopeless that I couldn't even take my death into my own hands.

"Please..." I started, hating myself for having to beg.

"_Please_," he repeated mockingly.

He picked up a piece of rope that he could have pulled from anywhere for all I knew. It was quickly wound around my wrists and the top of the rusty bedpost. I soon realised that I was secured and wouldn't be able to release myself. Another rope went around my left ankle and tied it to one corner of the footboard.

That was when I realised that my legs weren't being tied together. And that was when I realised the reason that they weren't being tied together. I kicked out with my free leg, but the man caught it before I could do any damage. I couldn't do anything right, could I?

"Just kill me," I pleaded as he bound my right ankle to the bed.

"Not yet," he answered, repeating what he'd said before.

I couldn't bear the thought of what he was planning. I already wanted to die, and he'd already, I think, killed my uncle. Why did he have to do this? Wasn't this just adding insult to injury?

"Please-" I started once more.

I never finished that sentence though, because his fist hit my stomach hard. I let out a loud cry and more tears trickled down my face, but all that that seemed to do was amuse him. I couldn't even curl in on myself and hold the spot he'd hit as I had done when that... Pluto... had hit me.

"You shut it now... I'll be back fer ya later."

Those cold, blue eyes raked over my body and I couldn't help but feel sick, and yet a little self-conscious, as they lingered on my nearly-exposed chest. Then he left me there in my terrified state. And all I could do was lie there, crying; pain wracking my entire body with every hopeless sob.


	3. No Escape

I guessed that I must have fallen asleep, because when I opened my eyes again, the sky outside the window had a dark bluish quality to it. There wasn't much light in the room, and I couldn't see very well. But I knew where I was, and I knew what had happened.

My body was sore, bruised most likely too. And my head throbbed still. And I wanted to die. But I knew that I wasn't going to get anything that I wanted. I suppose that I should have been used to that; because I hadn't had anything I wanted since right before my parents' crash.

I remember how I'd asked if I could go with my parents that day. They were going to the theatre, one of my favourite places. But they'd said no. And then they crashed. If I'd been with them, then none of this would have happened.

Life sucked. Guess I couldn't even kill myself and end it, so I just had to live with this shit. No matter _what_ it was. _Urgh. Fuck it all_, I thought grimly, a couple more tears joining the dried ones that had fallen down my face earlier.

That was when the door had opened, and I squinted as a flickering light was switched on. It took my eyes a moment to adjust, and for all my moment of blindness, I couldn't help but cringe back in fear of that grey-haired, cleft-lipped freak turning up again.

But as my eyes focussed on the figure in the doorway, I discovered that it wasn't that man. Or the one he'd called Pluto. The person in the doorway was much smaller. A girl. And though she too was deformed, there was something in her large brown eyes that made me think that she was almost as scared of me as I was of her. Almost. Because let's face it, she wasn't the one strapped down to a bed and awaiting the return of the twisted man who'd brought her hear, was she?

She walked towards me and I didn't move. _What would be the point?_ I wondered as I stared at her. The girl stopped at my side, and it was only then that I noticed that she was carrying something. A glass filled with water. And as soon as I'd seen that I felt the intense dryness in my throat.

"Drink?" the girl asked, her voice soft and small.

I nodded. As much as I wanted to die, I knew enough about dehydration from how I felt now that it was a long process and definitely not the swiftest way to end everything. The girl lifted my head and basically poured the water into my mouth. I was so thirsty that I couldn't help but gulp it down in one. And that only led me to cough as she pulled the glass away from my lips.

"'M Ruby," the girl said meekly after a while.

I turned my head back to her, and looked at her for a moment. She looked so timidly at me, as if she really was afraid of me rather than the other way around. Or was it fear? As I watched her, I could have sworn I'd seen something else in her eyes. Something that was much more like pity than fear.

"Becky," I answered eventually, seeing no real reason that I shouldn't reply.

The girl didn't say anything for a long time, forcing me to be the one to break the silence.

"Why am I here?" I asked her, my eyebrows curling into a frown.

Ruby bit her bottom lip and stared at me as if she didn't know how to- or didn't want to- answer my question. Eventually, she mumbled something quietly though.

"Lizar' brough' ya back..."

My frown deepened. _Lizard? Is that the name of the man who brought me here?_

"But why?" I asked quietly.

The girl shifted uncomfortably for a moment. _I made her uncomfortable? Great. Now, maybe she'll know how I feel._ But I felt bad about that as soon as I'd thought it. This girl hadn't done anything to hurt me, unlike the two others I'd met in this godforsaken place. She even seemed to be acting quite friendlily towards me.

"Don' know..." she replied quietly.

"Lizar' says he wants t' keep ya..."

I blinked.

"Sorry, did you just say _keep_ me?"

I must have spoken louder than I'd intended to, because the girl stepped back from me a little, an expression of almost fear on her misshapen face. And I must have spoken louder than I'd meant to, because the door swung open quickly and the man I now knew to be called Lizard stepped inside.

"Ruby, what'd I tell ya? Git away from 'er!"

The girl frowned at him, but did as he said and took another couple of steps back from me. Lizard walked up to me until he was standing where he had been earlier, staring down at me once again.

"Git out, Ruby," he ordered in a low voice, a crooked smile warping his already malformed lips.

"Lizar'..." she said quietly, throwing what looked like a worried glance in my direction.

"I said, _git_!" he shouted, turning to glare at the girl until she departed and closed the door behind her.

I couldn't help but flinch back slightly at that outburst. If he was angry now, it didn't bode well for me when she left. And when she did, he turned back to me, staring again with those cold, blue eyes.

"Why am I here?" I ventured, hoping for a different answer than one that meant I was to be trapped here by this crazed man for the rest of my life.

Lizard's grin broadened as he sat down on the bed at my side. I understood why when he placed his sun-dried and calloused hand on my bare chest, just under where my bra ended. He slowly inched it up my body until he rested it directly on my breast and started to squeeze at my flesh under the thin material.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing? Get off!" I yelled, my eyes wide.

A small laugh escaped his deformed lips then, and he didn't pause in his ministrations as I struggled to back away from his hand. We both knew that I had no way to escape from him. I was tied too tightly for that- and he'd personally made sure of that.

"You're mine now. An' ya need t' shut it," he replied coldly.

"_Yours_? Let's get this straight; I am _not_ an object! And I will _not_ be _kept_. Now. Let. Me. Go."

The freak just shook his head and moved his free hand to my other breast to begin the same motions again.

"Stop it!" I half-shouted at him as I tried again, in vain, to squirm away from his touch.

But he didn't stop. He just carried on touching me; his fingers running over my breasts in a way that was far from gentle. I kept struggling, but I just couldn't force him off of me. I couldn't force him to stop.

"_Please_," I pleaded after I could no longer force myself not to.

And that was when his groping hands started to really hurt me, and when they started to find their way under my bra to the soft flesh beneath. When his fondling turned to harsh pinching; to squeezing cruelly.

"_Stop_!" I screamed at him.

But my protests fell upon deaf ears, and even then I could speak no more, because his deformed lips crashed down on mine, quickly silencing me. I fought back as hard as I could, but it made no difference. I had no chance to escape either his grip or his kiss. And that was when my tears started to fall again.

Lizard pulled back from me after what felt like an age of his lips moving against my still ones. And he laughed at the tears he saw rolling down the sides of my face. All I could do was stare at him through the tears lingering in my eyes. All I could do was try not to scream.

"Why? Why are you doing this? Why can't you just kill me?" I asked him bluntly.

"I ain't gunna kill ya yet, 'member?"

"Well, why the fuck not? Please. I'm _literally_ begging you to kill me here."

"If I'd 'a wanted t' kill ya, I'd 'a done it by now an' shut ya up, wouldn' I?"

He paused and stared at me menacingly, before adding, "Nah, ya gunna stay wit' me for a while."

I squinted at him through my still-falling tears and tried my plea once more.

"_Please_; just kill me," I said again.

"Shut it, ya stupid bitch. I ain't gunna kill ya yet, but if ya don't stop askin' I might jus' make ya a little less comfortable."

And with that, his hands tightened around my breasts until I couldn't stop myself from crying out. He let go after he'd forced the involuntary outburst out of me, a satisfied smile lining his features.

"You fucking _bastard_," I cried through gritted teeth.

"Ya've got _no_ idea, bitch."

One of his hands left its place touching my recently-tormented skin, and the man trailed a finger over my stomach until he reached the rim of my dark jeans. I tried to hold back a frightened shiver then, and I only just managed it.

"Don't," I whispered, knowing that my plea would go unheard.

I closed my eyes after that. I couldn't bear to look at those cold, blue eyes roaming lasciviously over my body. I couldn't bear having to watch what I knew was coming next. It wasn't hard to understand when I heard the zip of my jeans being pulled down; or when I felt them tugged down.

My eyes opened with my only flash of hope though. And it came when I realised that, to get my jeans off, he would have to untie my legs. And he did; one at a time. But as soon as he freed one of my legs, Lizard received a sharp kick in the ribs.

With a grunt, he yanked my jeans away from me and swiftly tied my leg back down again. I didn't get to make another attempt with the other leg though. Lizard made sure of that as he held tightly to my leg and wrenched my jeans away from me.

He turned back to me then, and my eyes scrunched closed again as he climbed on top of me. I tried to block him out of my mind. I tried to block it all out. I didn't want to think about the fact that he was straddling me. Or the fact that I had been stripped down to my underwear. Or the fact that his hands were even now ripping at those too.

But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't block out the horrible things that he did to me next. And my screams, that I'm sure could have been heard from miles away.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Apologies for the late update, this would have been up sooner, but in the past two weeks I've had two A level practical exams and now, when I have written something, Fanfiction has been refusing to let me post. Typical. : :P**

**Kit xx**


	4. A Chance

I woke up later, pain flaring through my entire body. It took me a few minutes to remember exactly what had happened; but I did remember. I think he must have knocked me unconscious, either during or when he'd finished with me. I'd been trying so hard to block out what had happened, but what that monster had done was soon replaying so clearly in my mind that I couldn't stop the tears from rolling down my cheeks.

I lay there, strapped to the bed, completely naked for God knows how long. What else could I do but stare blankly at the ceiling? What did I care? I'd wanted to die, hadn't I? _What if I _did_ die? What if I'm already dead? _I thought._ What if this is Hell?_

After a while, I heard the door kicked open. But I refused to turn my eyes from the ceiling. Why should I look at the disfigured face of the man who'd just raped me? Why should I even bother doing anything?_ It's not like I can_, I thought, depressed.

"Ya finally awake, are ya?" I heard that horrible voice say.

I offered him no reply. He wasn't worth it.

"Thought ya'd 've lasted longer than tha'. Passin' ou' so soon," he teased me.

_So that was what had happened then. I'd passed out._ _Not really a surprise... Not after what he was doing..._ I thought, feeling sick as I remembered the things he had been doing to me. The feeling must have registered on my face because the next thing I heard was that cold and cruel laugh. My eyes flickered to where he stood looming over me and I couldn't stop myself from flinching slightly.

Of course, that only made him laugh at me more. _How does a person get so twisted that they enjoy making someone feel like this?_ I thought as I tried to remain still. As I tried not to draw his attention to the fact that I was still naked and completely powerless to resist anything that he might want to do with me.

Oh, how that thought made me feel sick.

But my plan didn't work. Because as soon as he'd stopped laughing, his eyes trailed over my body. I closed my eyes, not wanting to have to watch again as he hurt me in ways that before that day I'd only heard about in the news.

His calloused and rough fingers, his gloved hands, did find my body. Just not in any of the places that I'd expected them to. My eyes snapped open as the tie around my ankle was loosened, quickly followed by the next around my other leg. I instantly drew my legs together and closer to my body- an action that pulled a snigger from that abusive monster.

I had no idea what he was doing, but the man soon moved to my wrists, releasing them too. As soon as I was free of those tight bonds, I scrambled back to the corner where the old, rusty headrest met the wall. I pulled my knees up to my chest in some vain attempt to shield myself from him.

It didn't work though, as I soon found out. The man took hold of my forearm and yanked me from the bed. I stumbled onto the floor, not even sure that I could keep myself supported after what he'd done to me. So I was left pretty much dangling from his iron grip while he sneered at me. That was, until he dropped me to the hard, wood floor anyway.

My knees and hands thudded to the ground and my red hair fell in front of my face. I almost just wanted to collapse and let that be it. Maybe if I did, he would think me weak and finally kill me. But when did wishes ever come true? In this place, I'd have to say never.

I saw the remnants of my clothing on the floor beside me. I saw the marks on my wrists that showed how tightly that I had been bound. I saw the feet of that man intruding on my vision and couldn't help but scowl. He kicked the clothes closer to me and told- or virtually ordered- me to get dressed. What else could I do but comply?

So I pulled myself to my feet, standing on pained and shaky legs, and I pointedly refused to look at the man as I picked up my jeans. A little ripped at the knee, one long slit in the other leg; they still fitted me fine. But the problem was that they clung around the new bruises on my skin, digging particularly into those on my hips, where his hands had so tightly gripped my body. I barely held back a wince.

He'd ripped my underwear, but again, my bra was still wearable- sort of. I quickly slipped myself into it, shielding the flesh he'd been so rough with before from the monster before me.

My shirt was a different matter, however. It was ripped to tattered shreds. There would be no wearing it. Since it was the only thing that I had though, I had to risk a glance up at the man, not knowing what to expect. He was sneering at me, those cold blue eyes lit with wicked amusement.

He tore the remains of the material from my grasp and threw it into the corner of the room. I flinched as his hand closed around the back of my neck, gripping me in his inescapable hold. I couldn't do anything but comply as he yanked me closer to him, slamming me into his body.

I cringed as I was forced to press against him, my almost-bare chest grazing the bare part of his. I felt his chest shake as that awful laugh sounded once more and I closed my eyes, not wanting to have to look at him. His hand left my neck and found its way to entangle in my hair.

I barely had time to open my eyes before he pulled down, tugging my head backward. The gasp that I let slip from my mouth out of shock turned out to be a mistake, because Lizard seized the opportunity that my open mouth presented him with.

His deformed lips pressed against mine, his tongue slipping into my mouth in because of my mistake. I tried to shove against his chest, hitting out at him. It was like smacking a brick wall for all the good it did me. In trying to force myself away, all that I seemed to have done was make him pull me closer to him- and have him hold me there for far longer than I thought he might otherwise have. _Then again..._

When he finally released me, I fell to the floor. My already-bruised knees jarred awkwardly against the old wood, but yet again, he didn't care. I don't think that I even really cared. It was more just the fact that I knew exactly what was coming next that had me making no move.

"Git up," I heard him order from above me.

I didn't answer; didn't even turn my head to acknowledge him. What would be the point?

"_I_ _said_, git up,"

"No," I whispered.

"Wha' was tha'?"

"_I_ _said_ _no,"_ Ireplied, mimicking him in an attempt to goad him into finally killing me.

I waited for an agonisingly long minute for his retaliation. Of course, it came. And it came in the form of a sharp kick to my ribs. I cried out as I curled over myself _Maybe he'll beat me to death_, I thought vaguely. Again, I was wrong. He didn't want to kill me- he'd had got too much amusement from beating and raping me.

Lizard's gloved hand curled around my upper arm and he lifted me effortlessly to my feet. I felt sick. _Really_ sick. All I wanted was to die like the rest of my family. _Why is it that they died with such ease? Why is that I'm always the one left behind when the shit hits the fan?_ I thought as I struggled against his unyielding grip.

Before I even knew what was going on, he pulled me out of the door. The old house looked different to how it had when I'd tried to escape, though I couldn't understand why until I saw the few broken columns of the stair rail. _Was that me? Did that happen when that... Pluto threw me against it?_ I wondered, the jagged breakages in the wood making me cringe at how hard I'd hit it.

The front door was closed and I could see nothing beyond what I'd already seen. Until Lizard shoved me to the right and through to a different room than the one that the giant had almost strangled me in. I was almost thrown into the room, which, as it turned out, was a kitchen.

But Lizard didn't let me out of his vice-like grip. His hand remained firmly around my arm until he'd planted me down on one of the chairs at the dining table. I didn't move when he let go. I merely stared at the table through the strands of red hair that hung in front of my face.

Though I sat straight-backed where he'd put me, I couldn't seem to stop small shivers from shaking my entire body. I could feel those piercing eyes on me, but I didn't look up from the table. I couldn't- _wouldn't_. I heard a noise to my left, where I knew that Lizard was _not_.

So, tentatively, I turned my head to the side and caught sight of the girl I'd met before; the one called Ruby. She offered me a slightly nervous smile that I could not have returned, no matter how hard I might have tried. I just turned my head again and resumed my staring at the table.

"So, bitch-"

"I _have_ a name," I interrupted before I could stop myself.

A stunned silence rippled through the small, worn kitchen and I didn't dare to raise my eyes from the table.

"Wha's ya name then, _bitch_?" I heard Lizard ask me, assuming he wasn't speaking to the girl who'd just entered the room.

I didn't answer. I hadn't meant to say anything. _Why did I even open my mouth?_ I wondered.

"'S 'er name?" Lizard asked, those sharp blue eyes turning on the small girl.

I heard a pause before Ruby finally answered, "Becky."

"Becky, huh?"

I chanced a look up at him for a second and regretted it immediately. I'd looked up just in time to see him run his tongue over his bottom lip as his eyes glazed over my body, once more settling on my breasts.

"I also have a _face_," I shot at him, uncomfortable at the mere thought of the intentions that I knew that gaze would lead to.

I had expected him to shout or lash out at me speaking up, but he did neither thing. He merely smirked in reply- a response that, admittedly, caught me a little off guard. I blinked at him, but he'd turned and started rooting through drawers before even seeing the movement.

The chair beside me was drawn back, and I turned to see Ruby sitting down. She tried another smile in my direction, and I almost felt a little bad that I couldn't even offer her one in return.

"Ya talk funny. Where ya from?" she asked, her voice as innocent and almost childlike as it had been when we'd spoken before.

I paused. What was the harm in telling her?

"England," I replied croakily.

"Wha' ya doin' all the way out 'ere?" Ruby continued.

Her questions were already beginning to get to me. I didn't want to talk about the reason that I'd ended up _here_, let alone in America.

But I scoffed anyway, and replied, "That's a question I've been asking myself for a while now."

The girl frowned at me, the expression slightly morphed by the deformity of her features. So I explained, even though I didn't want to.

"My parents died... I came to live with my aunt and uncle. Now they're dead."

I turned my glare to Lizard, hate there as obvious as the green in my eyes.

"Because of _you_," I added, my tone venomous.

"So yer alone then?" he asked.

I blinked. _Did he just completely fucking ignore everything that I said?_

"What?"

"Yer alone?" he repeated.

"Because of _you,_" I said again.

Lizard's smirk only grew as he stared at me; his grin worse than evil.

"I hate you," I murmured so quietly that neither of the two heard me.

And then the thought hit me, _Why am I just sitting here? _Why_ am I sat at the kitchen table with the freak that just raped me? What am I going to do, have breakfast with him?_ No. _That's ridiculous. I should be trying to escape. Trying to run._

Lizard was distracted, his eyes focussed directly at whatever was in the cupboards and drawers. It almost looked as if he wasn't even concerned enough that I'd try to run to watch me. _Suits me_, I thought. And the girl, Ruby, she didn't look like she could stop me if she tried.

I had a chance; a pretty good one, I'd thought. And I took it- as any sane person would. Then again, by that point, I had started to doubt how sane I really still was. Even so, I tried. I had to.

The chair I was sat on knocked backward and clattered to the floor as I made my move. If it hadn't, maybe I would have had more of a chance. As it was, a glass smashed behind me, hitting the wall and spraying out shards that I don't know how I managed to dodge.

I'd tried running, but somehow Lizard managed to catch me, his arms circling around my waist so tightly that it hurt. A scream escaped me as his fingers squeezed my skin and he hefted my feet from the floor. I only stopped screaming when I landed on the table, my skull whacking hard against the wood.

For a moment, everything went blank. For a moment, I'd thought that that was it. I was wrong. Groaning, I could feel his hands take hold of my wrists. My legs dangled from the rim of the table, the tips of my toes brushing the wooden floor. It was clear what would happen next; but it was even more painfully obvious that I could, once again, do nothing about it.

It was going to happen again. He was going to rape me. Bed or kitchen table, the result would be the same. I just had to stop myself from crying this time. I became vaguely aware that Ruby had disappeared; where to, I didn't know or even really care. She'd run away before he did this to me the last time too. I could see a growing theme here.

He unzipped my jeans and yanked them down until they slipped off over my feet. I struggled against his grip, knowing that my attempts were useless. Lizard's hold on me was a strong as the ropes that had bound me last time. And he pressed against me, and even through his dirty trousers, I could feel his arousal.

"Fuck you!" I spat at him, my glare cold and harsh.

He slapped me; hard. The table felt cold against one cheek as the other burned from his strike.

"Though' I told ya not t' run?" Lizard grunted as he undid the zip of his own trousers.

I scrunched my eyes closed then, yet again determined not to look at him whilst he did it. This time was worse than the last time. This time I already hurt from what he'd done before. And this time I stayed awake through the whole experience.

My body ached from the rough wood on my back, from the beatings and bruises. From the way he was forcing himself onto me, taking no care to be gentle as he drove into me. Lizard's hands gripped my shoulders, using them to pull me close in time with his movements.

I wanted to scream. To cry. I wanted to say something- or anything. But I couldn't. With each forceful thrust pain jabbed at my body and my breath caught in my throat.

It was only when he'd finished- when I felt him withdraw himself from me- that I could finally breathe again. Lizard's breathing was heavy, his panting loud, and I could hear the aftermath of what he'd done. And I could feel the aftermath of it dripping down from between my legs.

"So this is the girl then?"

My eyes snapped open at the sound of the unfamiliar voice. And when I caught sight of the man, seemingly normal- if a little haggard- and wearing a long trench coat; I couldn't stop myself from feeling embarrassed. Humiliated, even. There I was, lying on the table, violated and naked save for my torn bra, and the man was just standing there, as if this were a normal occurrence.

Unable to move from the intense pain circuiting my body, my eyes flickered to Lizard in time to see him smirk evilly at me before nodding his head at the older man. No conversation was exchanged in my presence. The one in the trench coat simply gestured with his head for Lizard to follow him and left.

And he did leave. He left me all alone, still lying on that table, too weak and pained to move. And I'm ashamed to say that that time, I didn't even try to escape.

**Author's Note: Woah, seriously sorry about the long period of no updates. I keep getting insane Writer's Block these days. :/ On the bright side, I just passed my A levels and got into university, so I kicked myself out of my slump and wrote this long overdue update. :) Please do let me know what you think. :)**

**Kit xx**


	5. Breakfast Time

I must have laid there, in pain, for only about ten minutes. It felt like longer though. It felt like _so_ much longer. I just stared up at the ceiling, old and wooden and worn, having no energy to even get up and put back on the jeans that were crumpled on the floor at my feet. I could hear the muffled voices of Lizard and the other man just outside the door, but I didn't move. For now they weren't hurting me, at least.

After a while, I heard something move in the room, but I didn't turn my head to look. It almost surprised me, if it was true that I could still be surprised at this point, that the girl was back at my side, holding out my jeans for me to take. I turned to look at her and saw an almost sadness in her too-big eyes. Here she was, seemingly always there to help me ten minutes after I actually needed it.

My arm felt heavy as I lifted it to take the jeans from her. It took me twice as long as it should have done to be able to put them back on; I don't know why, it just felt so hard. My fingers were so shaky. I managed it in the end though, and, when I had, I half fell into the chair I'd been sitting in before... _before_... It seemed that Ruby had conveniently picked it up and set it back in its place for me. I'd thank her if I really cared.

"It'll be 'kay," she said quietly, her disfigured hand reaching out to brush something wet from my face.

I didn't even realise I was crying- I didn't even realise that I had any tears left. I just sat there then, wondering what the fuck it was that my life had come to. My family was dead and no one else knew where I was. Lizard had what? Kidnapped me? Was I supposed to spend the rest of my sorry little life as his sex slave or some warped equivalent?

I didn't get to think any more on the matter before the two men, one that I knew to be cruel, the other that I could only imagine to be, returned to the room. I shifted my eyes to them for a second and saw that they were both staring at me. _Brilliant_.

I didn't want to look them though, so I turned my gaze back to the table, before quickly wishing I hadn't. All I could see, as I stared at the dining table, was a little wet and sticky patch that once again reminded me of what had just happened. Ruby must've noticed what I was looking at because, almost immediately, she went to the almost-grubby-looking sink and pulled out a wet cloth. She wiped the whole table clean- well, sort of clean- but I could still see that patch in my mind.

"Looks like she's jus' about ran outta escape attempts," the new man observed.

"Wouldn' put it past 'er t' try again," Lizard said, moving over to a barely-running and dusty-looking old fridge on one side of the room.

I couldn't help but watch in a sort of un-fascinated way. What was he doing now, finding something else that he could torture me with? Apparently not though, because he pulled a huge hunk of meat out of the fridge. I don't know what it was, but it was big; I guess it could have been beef or something, I've never been an expert on meat.

I watched as Lizard opened a drawer and withdrew a cleaver. With the way he held it and the way he hacked pieces of meat away, it looked like he'd had a lot of practice. That might have unnerved me if I actually cared what happened to me now; I just wanted to die. _Just let me die_.

Lizard swiftly set the cleaver on its side and left the hunk of meat where it was. Ruby seemed to take the initiative and pull out two plates from a cupboard and set them in front of Lizard, onto which he deposited the meat he had sliced away. He took the plates from her rather forcefully, or gently in comparison to what he'd been doing to me, and left Ruby to put the meat back in the fridge. All the while, I noticed the other man had not moved from the doorway where his eyes were fixed directly on me.

"Breakfast time," he sneered, dropping the plate in front of me.

He stood over me, still holding the other plate that was clearly intended for himself.

"No thanks," I said, not looking at the plate, just staring at Lizard.

I don't know where I pulled the energy for my reply from; perhaps it was just some sort of self-determination to wind the fucker up so he would finally killed me.

"Eat it," he growled at me.

"What, no knife and fork?" I asked sarcastically, tempting fate where I probably should not have tried.

To my surprise, he grumbled, walked over to a drawer and yanked it open. As he moved back to his previous position, he tossed an old knife and fork in my direction, where they landed with a clatter on the table beside the untouched plate.

"As appetising as this looks, I'm a vegetarian," I answered flatly.

He stared at me and one of his eyebrows rose, clearly unimpressed.

"I don't eat meat," I repeated.

I never had eaten meat, the idea of it had always disgusted me. Killing animals for food just seemed so barbaric. Just because they couldn't talk didn't mean they were any less important than we were; why were they ever considered any different to us?

"Yer uncle'll be so disappointed,"

I blinked in confusion and asked, "What?"

"'e died so ya could 'ave this meal.

I stared at him, uncomprehendingly. I didn't understand at all what my uncle and his death had to do with what was in front of me. Was he just screwing with me to try and get a reaction? It seemed to work when he picked up a slice of whatever that meat was and waved it in front of my face so that I cringed backward. Aside from whatever he was actually doing, that was just plain rude and disgusting.

As I leaned back in my chair to try and get away from the meat he stopped wafting it before me. Instead he put it to that deformed mouth of his and took a bite, tearing the meat with those horrible, stained teeth. I couldn't help but scowl at the sight.

"'e's pretty tasty too, y'know."

At that I froze. Had I just heard him correctly? _Did he just say..._

"..._He_?" I said, feeling my mouth dry as I struggled to get the word out.

The grin Lizard sent me in reply was as bad as any he had given me before, as he realised that I finally understood his words. What he was saying was evil; and wrong and... no. They _wouldn't_... He had to just be fucking with my mind, didn't he? _But what if he's telling the truth? What if he's actually eating... _Jim_?_

Even the thought was sick. I _felt_ sick. I stood up, on what power I don't know. Sheer disgust, probably. But I stood up, accidentally knocking over the chair I'd been sitting on again. And he was just sneering at me, as if my reaction was priceless. Ruby seemed to know that now was the right time to leave, and I barely noticed her sneak past the man that was now leaning against the frame of the doorway.

"What... What the fuck...?" I spat out at Lizard.

I was crying again at the thought of how sick and wrong the idea he had put into my mind was, and I couldn't stop.

"You... y-you didn't- you're _lying_. Don't you try to fuck with me, you _sick_ bastard. Haven't you done enough?" I yelled.

I'd been watching his face as he lapped up my tears and shouts as if they were some sort of candy. He was enjoying my pain too much- he had to be lying. There was no way he'd really be... _cannibalising..._ my uncle... _Jim_.

I didn't even see it coming when Lizard launched himself from his position beside the table and smacked into me. I hit the wall behind me with a thwack that left me feeling dizzy and even more sick than I had done before. I had no chance of even realising what was happening before I discovered that he'd pinned me against the wall with his body.

I couldn't even move my arms properly. _How did he even manage to get me in this position? _I thought, trying to regain my sense and figure out which of the two Lizards that I was seeing was real. I'd just about righted my vision when I saw Lizard's hand come up to my mouth.

If I'd have had the sense, I would have closed my mouth immediately; but I was confused, and ,for some reason, I didn't see what he had planned coming. He shoved a chunk of that... _meat_ into my mouth and, instead of holding my airways closed so that I would either have to eat or suffocate (the latter of which I would have much preferred) like I had expected, he did something else.

With one hand, Lizard covered my mouth, simply so that I couldn't spit out the contents of my mouth; but with the other he grabbed hold of my jaw and firmly pulled it up and down; up and down. He was effectively chewing for me, and I couldn't do anything to stop him. He was forcing me to eat and I had no way to stop him.

"Swallow," he ordered, the command no more than a hiss.

What else could I do? I tried to wait him out, but he stayed there, unmoving, pinning me in place. And all I could do was taste whatever that meat was. I couldn't stop crying. Even if it wasn't really... my uncle... that he was forcing me to eat, the thought of it was enough.

As soon as he'd seen that I'd done as he instructed, Lizard stepped back, releasing me from his hold. I gagged as soon as his hand was away from my mouth, spluttering a cry that only his hand had kept inside me.

"I need to use the bathroom," I managed, my hand going up to my mouth.

Lizard just grinned and kept staring at me, enjoying whatever show that I seemed to be putting on for him. I couldn't care less about that evil smile right then, I was just about holding back from puking up my guts.

"Unless you want me to throw up right here?" I added.

That seemed to do it though, because Lizard rolled his eyes at me and grabbed hold of my arm. He wrenched me along beside him and out of the room. As sick as I felt, when we passed the man, still standing in the doorway, I couldn't help but notice how he was looking at me. With a sort of curiosity and amusement. Who the fuck were these people?

Lizard half-threw me into an adjoining room and slammed the door behind me. He stayed outside, but I could still hear his voice as he started talking to the other man again. I can't say that I really noticed what they were saying; I was too busy barely making it to the dirty-looking toilet and throwing up whatever I'd just been force-fed.

In all honesty, I hardly had anything to throw up. I hadn't eaten or drank much for days. _Has it even been days? _I thought, unsure of myself for not even being able to recall how long I'd been there... With them. _Him._ It couldn't have been just yesterday... Could it? I flushed the toilet, washing away the traces of my vomit and that awful meat that I _refused_ to believe was really my uncle.

But as I did, I realised that I hadn't actually used a toilet in however long I'd been there; too much had been distracting me to even think about such things, I suppose. So I made use of having it there anyway; who knew when the next chance I'd get would be?

As I sat there, I looked around the room, it was small and there was barely anything in it. An old, tin bathtub, a slightly cracked and broken mirror, and a window. A _window_. My first thought was to try opening it; I was on the ground floor, if I could only open it then I might be able to get away.

I was at the window in a flash. I tried to get it open; but to no avail. Not only was the window bolted closed, but there were bars on the outside that I'd not even though about how to get through. I sighed dejectedly. _No escape that way then_, I thought, scrunching my eyes closed.

But that was when I recalled the state of the mirror. Broken and cracked as it was, maybe there was a piece that I could pry free. It was worth a shot. And despite the fact that it cut my fingers and blood did start to drip from the tips, I did manage to pull a piece of the reflective glass away from the frame.

It would certainly do the job. It was sharp enough and Lizard had been stupid enough to leave me in a room with it, but I'm sure he wouldn't make that mistake again. It was now or never, I guessed.

I don't think it even hurt as I ran the blade-like edge across one of my wrists. It was almost like a pleasant sort of pain. A relief. Watching the blood that started from the cut was fascinating too. _How_ _much could leak from one little cut so quickly?_ I thought. Just as I was about to replicate the slash on my other wrist, the door on my left opened and Lizard walked in.

"A'right, that's enou-"

He stopped dead in the middle of his sentence as soon as he caught sight of me, bleeding and clutching to my make-shift blade.

"Ah, shit," was all he said as he lunged at me again.

I don't know if it was the blood loss that was doing it, but I was too slow to get him with the piece of glass, which he'd quickly disarmed me of. I think I started crying again, somewhere along the line. I didn't even notice. I was finally getting what I wanted.

Lizard held my forearms, while I just looked at him, barely even caring what he was doing now. I'd be dead soon. What would it matter. _Finally_, I thought. I started to smile at him, that cruel smile that he was always giving me. He hadn't won; I had. I was winning. I was...

**Author's Note: This is NOT the end of the story, just so you know guys. ;)**

**Anyway; I'm so sorry it's taken me so long to update this fic; long story short, I started University and my fanfictions had to take a backseat unfortunately. But I'd like to give a big thanks to **_**The Hills Are Watching You**_**, as reading her story, **_**Tears From The Hills **_**(.net/s/7701851/1/Tears_From_The_Hills), inspired me to write more of this story. :D Anyway, I hope you liked the chapter, and hopefully I won't leave it so long before updating again.**

**Kit xx**


	6. Waking Up In Hell

The first thing I registered was the pain from my wrist and the constant pressure of something wrapped around it. But the first thing I thought was, _Why the fuck am I still alive?_ I'd escaped, hadn't I? I'd done it... _hadn't _I? Shouldn't some sort of afterlife be less... painful?

Cautiously I opened my eyes, and let out a sorrowful groan at what I saw. That same room as before. And I was lying in that same bed. Which meant that I was still alive... I... failed.

I looked to the wrist that I had so unsuccessfully cut, expecting it to be tied to the headboard. But what I saw was not what I had expected. Instead of the rope I had thought that I would see wrapped around my wrist, the pressure that I had been feeling was... Well, I couldn't believe it, a bandage. And a well done one, at that.

_A bandage?_ I thought, not really trusting my own eyes for a moment; in fact, I actually had to reach out with my other hand to stroke over the material. It _was_ real. I wasn't hallucinating like I thought I might have been. _I guess these people really do want to keep me alive_, I thought, too astonished to even wonder why that was.

I was distracted from staring at the seemingly carefully-wrapped bandage around my wrist by the door swinging open. My heart leapt to my chest as I half expected Lizard to come barging through, simply to hurt me again. But it wasn't Lizard at all; it was Ruby.

I blinked as I looked at the girl, who walked over to me, carrying a big glass of water. Her hand outstretched, she held it out for me to take. I sat up, wincing as I accidentally put pressure on m wrist. I _had_ to remember not to do that again; it wasn't worth the pain.

I took the water from Ruby and drank a small amount of it. I was almost surprised at how nice it felt as it quenched my too-dry throat. I didn't take my eyes away from Ruby though; and I could see immediately where _her_ gaze was drifting. To my bandaged wrist.

"What happened after I passed out? I thought I was going to die," I said, adding the last part quietly.

Clearly choosing to ignore the last part of what I'd said, Ruby looked uncomfortable as she replied, "Lizard and Papa fixed ya up. Y'should be 'kay."

"Oh... I see," I replied.

I didn't see though. I didn't understand why they had done that; especially after they could see that I was obviously so determined to kill myself. It made no sense.

"Why did they..." I started, but stopped short of finishing that sentence.

How could I finish it when Ruby was looking at me with those wide and childlike eyes? I had wanted to ask why they had bothered, and why they hadn't just outright killed me or let me die; but instead I just trailed off and left the question unfinished. For some reason, I couldn't seem to say that to _her_. She'd done me no harm, after all.

Ruby shrugged and then said, "Ya should drink all o' tha'.

I drank more, simply to appease the girl who was staring at me as if my drinking water was the only thing that she'd ever wanted. I didn't understand the look, but I drank anyway. It made her smile. At least someone could smile in this place. That was, until something seemed to flicker across her face and her expression changed.

"Tha' was naughty, wha' ya did. Why'd ya do it?" she asked, her voice no more than a whisper.

I frowned, passing the now empty glass back to Ruby.

"I don't want to be here. I want to be dead," I replied simply, my own voice quiet too.

Ruby shook her head at me, her brown hair shaking from side to side as she did.

"Can't be dead. Gotta stay with us," she answered.

I stared at her unblinkingly as something hit me.

"There's no way out, is there?" I asked in a sigh.

The girl frowned and looked at me as if she actually had some modicum of understanding of how I felt right then. She had _no_ idea. Ruby slowly shook her head, a sad expression lining her deformed features.

"So I get to be punished. Forever... Here."

"Punished? I don'-" Ruby started, confused.

"It's my fault that my family are dead. My parents died because I didn't stop them leaving. My aunt and uncle died because I made them take that stupid, so-called shortcut... I guess the world's seeing to it that I get paid back for all the death I've caused. There's no way out for me, is there? I'll be in punishment until I'm allowed to die."

At some point, I don't know when, and I hadn't even realised that I was doing it, but I'd stopped actually talking to Ruby. I was talking to myself. I was realising what had happened, and what my life had come to. And I had no more tears to cry for myself.

I had gotten myself into this situation, and there clearly wasn't supposed to be a way out. This was my Hell; and I had to live in it until my punishment was over. I stared blankly out at a wall behind Ruby, ignoring her as she stared at me. She didn't even try to say anything to me- which was good because I wouldn't have listened to her anyway.

I snapped out of whatever trance I found that I'd put myself in, only at the intrusion of another figure into the room. My eyes flickered to the doorway and landed on the man I'd seen back in the kitchen.

"Ruby," he said, gesturing to the door with his head.

"'Kay, Papa."

And that was all it took for the girl to leave the room without even taking a look back at me. Somehow it wasn't like when Lizard ordered her to leave; it didn't feel quite the same. And, while the impression I was getting of this man was still hostile, it almost seemed that I'd not warranted it being aimed at me- and, for once, it _wasn't_. Which was an odd feeling in this place.

"Why are you keeping me alive?" I couldn't help but blurt out.

He didn't answer me, but merely stepped further into the room, pushing the door closed behind him. It was more than irritating me that they insisted that I remain alive when I clearly didn't want to be. And it pissed me off that I didn't know why.

"_Why?_" I repeated.

"'Cus I feel like it," he answered eventually.

"Could you _not_ feel like it, because I'd greatly appreciate it."

_What am I doing? Trying to provoke him too? _I thought, wondering at my own actions. As it turned out though, this man, who I'd only heard referred to as 'Papa', was not taking the bait.

He calmly replied, "My name's Jupiter. Ruby tells me yer Becky."

I said nothing; it wasn't like he'd asked me a question or anything.

"See, the thing is, we got ourselves a bi' of an opportunity 'ere."

I scowled at him and resisted rolling my eyes as I said, "Oh, really?"

"Ya said all yer family is dead, right?" he asked.

I nodded slowly, confused. What did that have to do with some '_opportunity'_? Why did it matter.

"And ya ain't got nuthin' t' live for?"

"Right; so kill me," I answered, shifting a little where I was sat on the old bed.

"Well, ya see, we don' tend t' find many like tha', with no one tha's gunna come lookin' for 'em."

I frowned; whatever he was getting at, I didn't understand it. So I told him.

"I have no idea what the fuck you're talking about."

Jupiter stared at me seriously for a moment, an expression that I could not comprehend flashing over his face.

"We're only one family 'ere," he shrugged.

"I'd like grandchildren."

At that, I froze. Surely I hadn't just heard him say what I'd thought he had, had I? _No_, _I _couldn't_ have heard him correctly._ But what if I had?

"You can't be serious," I replied, barely keeping my mouth from dropping open in disgust.

"I am. Thing is though, ya can either jus' let my son use ya 'til he finds somethin' else t' occupy 'is time- which isn' likely to 'appen soon- or ya can agree t' stop runnin', stop tryin' t' kill yourself, and get some peace. Won't be as bad tha' way."

Before I could say anything, he turned away from me.

"I'll let ya think abou' it."

And he was gone, leaving me dumbstruck. All I could do for a moment was sit there and stare at the door he'd closed behind him_. What even just happened?_

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Hi guys, I know this chapter is short, but it had to be because the next chapter is too. The next chapter is just from a third person point of view just so you can see something that's going on that Becky's not aware of, so I wanted to separate it from this one. :) Hope you liked it! :)<strong>

**Kit xx**


	7. New Blood

**Author's Note: To avoid confusion- this chapter is written in third person, so you guys can get some idea of what's going outside of Becky's head. :)**

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><p>Jupiter walked down the stairs and to the kitchen where he'd told his son to wait for him. For the benefit of the family, he'd spoken to the girl that Lizard had been so intent on keeping, even though his son had been trying to convince him that it was <em>his<em> job to deal with her since he had brought her there.

Jupiter had told Lizard to wait in the kitchen while _he_ spoke to the girl. It was _his_ family and _he_ would decide what would be done with the girl. Jupiter recalled Lizard saying, _"Don' need t' talk t' 'er 'bout anything,"_ and how he had replied, _"If ya keep goin' the way ya are, she'll ave killed 'erself by the end o' the week."_ That had shut Lizard up.

Unlike his son, Jupiter knew that they wouldn't be able to stop all of the girl's suicide attempts if she carried on the way she had been. She'd almost died the last time- and she would have done if they weren't so good at dealing with wounds. But, of course, they'd never let her know just how close she'd come to escaping them.

It was better for them if she thought there was no way out. Then her only option would be to accept their proposal. And it wasn't like she really had that much choice anyway.

But if she was going to end up living with them, then things needed to change. And Lizard needed to know about it. His son looked up as he entered the room, but didn't get up. Jupiter sat down opposite him at the kitchen table and sighed before saying anything.

"Well, I spoke to 'er."

"Ya said ya would," Lizard replied bluntly.

Clearly he was still annoyed that Jupiter had chosen to interfere, so Jupiter shot him a look that told him to stop acting so childishly. It worked.

"I made 'er a deal," Jupiter started.

Lizard looked up at him, something almost surprised in his cold blue eyes. _Yes, it would surprise him_, Jupiter thought. Lizard always was only ever focussed on himself and taking care of the family. He could just never see the bigger picture. And he certainly hadn't when it came to this girl and what the possible benefits of having her there could be other than a good fuck.

"She stops tryin' to kill 'erself an' we treat 'er like one o' us."

Lizard stared at his father blankly for a second, a strange emotion flickering across his face.

"Ya said tha'?"

Jupiter bowed his head once in assent.

"Why?" Lizard asked, confused.

It made no sense to him that Jupiter would make that bargain with the girl. Why should they treat her like one of the family? She was just an outsider he was enjoying having some fun with. She had no right to be treated like one of them.

"'Cus, unlike _you,_ I can see wha' we can do wit' 'er."

"Wha's tha' then?"

"She can give ya children."

Lizard blinked. He looked as if he was about to laugh at the suggestion; he looked as if he thought the idea almost ridiculous.

"Hades does it. 'E don't treat 'em righ', but we can use this one. Try it. We can do it better."

"Wha' makes ya think she'd agree t' tha'?" Lizard asked.

Jupiter shrugged and replied, "Wha' other choice does she 'ave?"

"S'pose... What'd she say when ya told 'er?"

"I left 'er to think on it... Anyway, needed to make summat clear before ya see 'er again."

Lizard raised his eyebrows at his Papa, wondering what else he could have to say.

"If she's gunna be stayin' then ya need to treat 'er better."

His son frowned at him and asked, "Why?"

"'Cus if she's stayin' then she's one of us. Ya wouldn' pull tha' shit on any o' us, now would ya? Wouldn' do it t' Rubes, would ya?"

"'Course I wouldn'," he replied quickly.

Lizard looked away, avoiding Jupiter's eyes. The girl _wasn't_ one of them though. It was different to how Jupiter put it. _She_ was an outsider... But, with what Jupiter was saying now, Lizard was starting to think that the operative word here was '_was'_.

"Now, I ain't sayin' ya gotta go all soft or nuthin'- if she don't behave then ya gotta punish 'er; ya jus' gotta be better with 'er when she _is_ behavin'. Got it?"

After a minute of considering it, Lizard nodded. That made sense, he supposed. And if she didn't behave then she'd soon learn to. He wasn't planning on letting her take advantage of the deal Jupiter had proposed. If she was going to be one of the family, then she was going to _be _one of the family. And that mean not stepping out of line. He'd have to teach her that, he knew.

Almost as if reading his son's thoughts Jupiter added, "Means ya don' 'it 'er fer no reason."

Lizard scowled, noticing that Jupiter had made sure to emphasise that point. But he nodded again after a while.

"Ya never know, she migh' survive 'ere," Jupiter put in, not betraying the slither of hope that hid behind those words.

He wanted her survive. Part of keeping his family safe and alive was wanting to see it continued. The girl was fresh blood. She'd do the family good.

"Seems t' keep on livin' even when she don' wanna," Lizard answered as a slight smirk returned to his face.

"She's strong", Jupiter nodded.

She _was_ strong. But what he didn't know was if she was strong _enough_ to live in the Hills. Only time would tell. And only her consent would give them that time.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: I know, I know, another short chapter, but I didn't want to make this one too long. It's really just a snippet that you guys wouldn't have been able to see from Becky's POV. Next chapter we'll be returning to her POV. :) Hope you liked it and will let me know what you think! :)<strong>

**Kit xx**


	8. A Decision To Make

**Author's Note: To avoid confusion, just letting you guys know that we've switched back to Becky's perspective. :)**

* * *

><p>I sat up in that rusty old bed, staring down at my bandaged wrists. So much pain. As I thought about it, I could literally feel the mirror shard as I willingly slashed it through my skin. How I wished I had died when I'd had the opportunity. I'd been <em>so<em> close, and now all I had was a choice- and not the one that I wanted.

Let that bastard beat me and rape me all he likes or stop trying to kill myself and allow him to... fuck me. I didn't want to think about the other part of Jupiter's bargain. _Grandchildren_. Letting hi fuck me was one thing- doing it with the intention of reproducing was something completely different.

I could feel the blood drain from my face- what blood I had left anyway. Could I really even contemplate _that_? With _him?_ I shuddered at the thought. How could I agree to have Lizard's... Lizard's _babies_. I felt so sick at the suggestion. How _could_ I?

But, then again, how could I _not_ agree to it and go on the way things were now? It was becoming abundantly clear that my attempts to kill myself were failing abysmally; could I really just subject myself to all that Lizard could dish out with no possible escape? I didn't have time to dwell on that though, because, as was becoming all too familiar, the door opened.

_Great; just what I wanted. Him_, I thought, cringing inside. I was supposed to be making a decision- Lizard being here was not going to influence me in their favour. It was only going to repulse me further... _Wasn't_ it?

He stepped in, his eyes focussed on me; but it wasn't the same. He wasn't staring coldly... His eyes weren't that cold at all; it was strange. I couldn't really understand the expression on his twisted face, but it wasn't full of malice as it usually was. _Maybe they sent him in here to try and persuade me?_ I thought, wondering why they didn't just send Ruby instead. She would have had so much more luck.

It was only after I'd finished worrying myself over his expression that I noticed he'd brought a chair in with him. That was peculiar. I guess he wasn't just planning to jump me like he usually did; perhaps he thought staring was better... I watched him as he set his chair up not too close, but just not far enough away from me. Just watching me. _Definitely creepy_.

"Ya should eat."

I stared at him, my eyes flickering quickly to what looked like a sandwich in his hand.

"Yeah, like I'm gunna eat anything _you_ give me. I remember last time."

Something crossed his strange expression, but it vanished quickly, as if he was trying to conceal it.

"It ain't got nuthin' like tha' in it. Jus' lettuce."

I stared at his now-outstretched hand and the sandwich in it suspiciously for a long moment. Lizard didn't pull it away though, he just continued to hold it out to me. I don't think I'd have taken it if my stomach hadn't taken the time to grumble in the loudest possible way, prompting a reminder of my hunger. Who knew how long it had been since I'd eaten? I didn't even know how long I'd been unconscious after my last failed attempt to kill myself. I just knew that I was starving now...

"It's jus' lettuce," Lizard repeated, a slightly annoyed twinge to his voice, as I started picking through the sandwich and inspecting it for anything unusual.

"I don't think you can blame me after what you force-fed me last time," I replied.

Finally satisfied that there was no meat- or anything else- in the sandwich, I took a bite. I don't think I've ever found the taste of lettuce so brilliant before- I didn't even think that lettuce _had_ a taste before that sandwich. But damn, it was so good. That could just have been my starving stomach talking- as could the fact that the sandwich was gone in under half a minute, leaving me feeling slightly queasy.

All that short while that I was eating, I could feel Lizard's eyes on me, boring through me. I tried to avoid his eyes by staring at the sandwich, but when it was gone, all there was left was for me to look at him.

"Thanks, I guess," I whispered quietly and somewhat reluctantly.

I started to feel extremely uncomfortable under his intense glare, even though he wasn't looking at me like he was about to beat the crap out of me or _worse_, and he wasn't smirking at me with that awful twisted grin of his. But, for some reason, that made me even more uncomfortable because I wasn't used to it. I couldn't predict what he was going to do next. And I didn't like that feeling. _At all._

"Ya gunna stay then?" Lizard asked.

It almost surprised me; particularly the tone of his voice. It had been... _different_, somehow.

"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" I replied.

He shrugged pointlessly. In his eyes, I supposed that he would think I did have a choice- I could continue as we had been, which he was probably perfectly fine with, or I could stop trying to run so that he wouldn't try to hurt me- _as much_. And that was discounting the _other_ things I was supposed to do...

"Pretty stupid thing you did there with the mirror," Lizard said.

"Yeah, stupid because it didn't work. I'm still _here_," I replied.

"It ain't as bad as ya think," he said, staring at her.

"And I suppose you're not either?" I bit back sarcastically, rolling my eyes.

He answered me defensively with, "I ain't that bad."

"So I guess that all that beating me up and rape stuff; that was just being friendly to you?"

"It ain't got nuthin' to say 'bout wha' I did."

"That's funny, because I've got _loads_ to say about it."

I could see him getting angrier as I tried to wind him up. Maybe this would be one last try at getting my way. Maybe I could convince him into killing me, just one last time before I had to make that _horrible_ decision.

"D'ya want me to hurt you or wha'?

"_Yes_, I do. I want you to kill me, don't you understand that?"

He said nothing to that; and he didn't even seem to get angrier. He knew what I wanted and he'd clearly cottoned on to the game that I was trying to play. Lizard wouldn't kill me now... I could tell. The look in those sharp blue eyes of his told me that straight away. _Fuck._

"Papa Jupe says I gotta ease up on ya," he said cautiously.

"Well _thank you_, Papa Jupe," I muttered under my breath.

He scowled at me, his blue eyes suddenly steely and cold. How I hated him.

"I guess if you're not gunna kill me, not raping me will be fine."

I'd started laughing at the words I'd just said. They were so ridiculous- and definitely not something that I ever thought I'd say. _How absurd_, I thought as I continued to laugh aloud. I only stopped when a confused-looking Lizard tapped a finger against my temple, pulling me back to reality.

"You ain't all right up there, are ya?"

I backed my head away from his pointing finger and barely suppressed my laughter.

"Maybe not... Then again, maybe I'll fit in here just fine," I said, closing my eyes and frowning.

"Ya wrong, y'know. You're the way ya are 'cus ya wanna die; we're the way we are 'cus we wanna _live_."

I opened my eyes and stared at him. Had he just said what I thought he had?

"What did you just say?" I asked.

But he didn't repeat himself.

"Ya gotta make up ya mind or I'll make it for ya. An' I ain't gunna wait forever.

And with that, he left me alone with my thoughts. _'We're the way we are 'cus we wanna _live_.' Huh_... I'd never thought of it that way. This was all just to live? That's why they did what they did? _Do_? They kill people and eat them because... because what? They've got nothing else?

That _can't_ be right. But then, remembering the seeming disfigurement of all those I'd so far met, with the exception perhaps of Jupiter, I couldn't imagine them just strolling into town for some bread and milk...

I shook myself out of that train of thought quickly however. _So what if they are only doing it to survive_. _It's still wrong. I'd rather die. _But they weren't going to kill me; and they'd made that _very_ clear.

So I had a choice to make. Live with the rape and beatings until he literally killed me through them- and with how efficient they were at keeping me alive, I'd wager that'd take a long, long time- or live with them. _Have Lizard's... children._

Somehow, that thought stopped me dead in my tracks. _Have _his_ children. Have _anybody's_ children. _I'm only eighteen- I shouldn't even be thinking about that sort of thing. I should be worried about passing school... not _this_... I _shouldn't_ be surrounded by all this death... I shouldn't be here. But I was.

Who even knew if I could _have_ children? I didn't _want_ to have children anyway, not with how I was such a magnet to death. My thoughts kept turning me back to the fact that it was _Lizard's_ children I was supposed to be having too.

Aside from the fact that that sickened me in itself, I'd seen how Lizard treated other people. I had personally suffered at his hands. Who knew how evil he could be? Would I really want to put innocent children at his hands?

All the same, it had been decided for me that I was going to live, regardless of my own wants. So the question was, did I want to spend my time tied to a bed and failing at suicide attempts? Or did I want some freedom in my imprisonment? I could see the lesser of two evils; even if both of my choices were just that; _evil._

I didn't like it; but I had my answer. And I wasn't looking forward to the gloating I'd get because I chosen the smarter option.

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><p><strong>Author's Note: Hey guys, so another update ahead of my June 1st schedule- which, as it turns out, I am <strong>_**really**_** crap at sticking to. :P But hey, you guys get another update, so my awful attempt at sticking to a structure can't be all that bad then, can it? :P Just curious, anybody got any thoughts or suggestions of things they'd like to see in this story (I know what's going to happen, but like I said, **_**curious**_**)? :)**

**Hope you liked it and will let me know what you think! :) (**_**Soooo**_** late for work because of posting this :L)**

**Kit xx**


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